The Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania stands unwavering in its pursuit of a Treaty for Lutruwita/Tasmania.
For too long, the Tasmanian Government has acted to diminish our rights and delay the rightful progression toward Treaty. These actions continue the dispossession and denial of our sovereign law on Country. Colonisation may have disrupted our lives, lands, waters, seas and skies, but it has never extinguished our inherent rights.
The Government’s attempts to narrow our position to “truth-telling” alone are a deliberate distortion of our aspirations and responsibilities. This misrepresentation is not only disrespectful, but it also undermines the very principles of justice and self-determination that a Treaty is meant to uphold. The Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania stand firmly behind a Treaty for our people. We endorse truth-telling only with Treaty as its outcome.
From our old people exiled to Tayaritja/Bass Strait Islands, to every generation who has carried the fight for our rights, we remain guided by our cultural obligations to honour them and to care for our Country. We will not step away from the path they carved; we stand firm until our rights are recognised through a meaningful Treaty process.
As the oldest continuing culture on Earth, it is a national shame that Australia still refuses to progress Treaty. As a signatory to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Australian Government must be held accountable for failing its international obligations and its moral duty to uphold our rights to sovereignty, self-determination and Treaty.
Our rights are not negotiable. Our future demands Treaty. Lutruwita demands justice.
Authorised by the Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania
Greg Brown, Chair, Southern Tasmania
David Lowery, Deputy Chair, Northwest Tasmania
John Gardner, Truwana/Cape Barren Island
Vernon Graham, Northern Tasmania
Krystelle Jordan, Northwest Tasmania
Thomas Riley, Southern Tasmania
Di Spotswood, Northern Tasmania
Jo Willis, Flinders Island